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Swanson Practices As Paladini Has Surgery

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - March 18, 2014 08:49 AM

The Crew opened its week of preparation for the home opener absent one familiar face and with a
surprise guest in uniform.

Midfielder Daniel Paladini will be sidelined for three to four weeks after undergoing knee
surgery, coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter said, but Crew academy product Ben Swanson was
on the field and training with the first team today at the team’s facility in Obetz.

Paladini, who was acquired from Chicago during an offseason trade, tweeted a photo Monday
morning of himself on crutches with the caption, “Want to thank Dr Edwards for a successful surgery
now hoping and praying for a speedy recovery!”

Now entering his sixth MLS season, Paladini has missed nearly the entire preseason with soreness
in his knee. In early February, Berhalter said he was dealing with inflammation and that surgery
did not seem to be an option. Rest was prescribed, and Paladini has practiced sporadically in
recent weeks. Last Thursday, Berhalter said Paladini might have a minor role in the team’s
scrimmage the following day against the NAIA All-Stars.

Instead, he had an MRI that showed some damage.

“We tried everything,” Berhalter said. “For him, it’s some piece of mind that they actually did
find a little something they can clean out. He’s excited. We’re happy for him and we think he’s
going to come back stronger in four weeks.”

Berhalter claimed to not know the exact nature of the injury.

“That’s something that the doctors, I’ll talk to them today but it was a little, slight tear of
something,” he said. “That was bugging him. He was getting swelling and they weren’t really sure
what it was. They did an MRI and saw a little bit of that tear there so they repaired it.”

Swanson, who will turn 17 in July, has represented the United States at the U-17 and U-18
levels. A midfielder, he is from Grove City and most recently took part in the Copa del Atlantico
youth international tournament held annually on the Canary Islands. Berhalter said he was familiar
with Swanson’s name before joining the Crew following last season.

“We like to keep the connection,” Berhalter said. “Obviously he’s a youth national-team player
and we want to bring him around and expose him to our level of training because we think he has a
bright future with us. It’s exciting to have our academy keep producing guys that we can take a
look at. If you watched today, he did fine. He did good. Good to see.”

I asked Berhalter if that meant we could see Swanson holding some sort of role with the Crew
this year.

“Why not?” he said. “If he’s good enough to play, why not? We want guys who can play and if he’s
good enough, no problem.”